Art History Vermeer Rococo Caravaggio Genre Painting

Caravaggio’s The Conversion of St. Paul is a good example of all of the above. Instead of a Classical interpretation of this significant spiritual event, Caravaggio portrays St. Paul flat on his back with his arms stretched up toward heaven. He appears to have fallen off his horse which is being lead away by an old ostler. In comparison to Classical religious works which feature the main religious figure, in Caravaggio’s depiction of this event the horse is featured as if he were the main subject of the piece. We see the sharp contrasts of dark and light representative of Caravaggio, in addition to his use of what is called tenebroso or the dark manner “It is another mode of Baroque illusionism by which the eye is almost forced to acknowledge the visual reality of what it sees” (De La Croix and Tansey 727).

The works of Caravaggio were instrumental in influencing the works of Vermeer and Rembrandt

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ting events of everyday life and common people. In the picture we see two youths in feather-caps playing cards. There is a backgammon board on the table and behind the “victim” stands the partner of the other player, signaling him regarding the cards in the victim’s hand. The cheater responds to this signal by pulling a card tucked behind his back. The work is not only painted in brilliant colors, but it is a perfect example of the chiarascuro lighting employed by Caravaggio. Three particular value contrasts standout in the work. One is the face of the victim, bright white wedged between his black coat and cap. The other is the face of the cheater, his white silhouette painted in front of the black cape of the informer. The third value contrast which gives a chiarascuro effect is the large white swatch painted on the wall behind the cheater and the informer, while the rest of the wall is painted in a darker color to give shadow contrast to the “lit” portion of the wall. Genre painting in the 18th century was split into two schools and regions. The flowering of genre painting occurred in Japan, where everyday scenes were popular, but, so too, in France, where Chardin’s still-lifes and interior scenes were not only popula
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Approximate Word count = 2439
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)

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